←back to thread

2071 points K0nserv | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
mikewarot ◴[] No.45088709[source]
A gentle reminder to the readers here at HN that it doesn't have to be this way. Computer Security is a solved problem[1], and has been so since the 1980s[2]. It's my strong opinion that the only methods you've seen to this point[3-7] were deliberately chosen to be ones that don't work, and make things worse in the long run.

There's no reason we shouldn't be able to run what we want on our hardware, without having to trust anything other than the microkernel inside the operating systems.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_operating_sys...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppArmor

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security-Enhanced_Linux

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_permissions

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module

replies(1): >>45088716 #
carlosjobim ◴[] No.45088716[source]
Your opinion is not "a gentle reminder", "a friendly reminder" or "a public service announcement". It's just your opinion and nothing more.
replies(2): >>45088765 #>>45094159 #
7373737373 ◴[] No.45088765[source]
It's obvious you don't understand what is written in those links. The capability security architecture breaks the false dichotomy of either having to have a fully locked down or open operating system, it provides the technical foundation to grant individual programs, and even parts of these programs, recursively, only the (data, filesystem, network) access and resource consumption (cpu, memory) rights that they need. This is not an opinion, this is a decades old technical solution that humanity ignores at its own peril. While I wouldn't argue that it completely solves computer security, it allows programmers and users to minimize the attack surface of their systems.
replies(1): >>45092354 #
1. carlosjobim ◴[] No.45092354{3}[source]
I appreciate that I probably don't understand what is written in those links. But whether you're right or wrong - and you're probably right - phrasing your comment in the clichéd "gentle reminder" makes people refrain from taking your message to heart.
replies(1): >>45100129 #
2. 7373737373 ◴[] No.45100129[source]
The grandparent comment wasn't mine, and I can kind of agree with yours. I can understand both of you, you in that the phrasing used may feel patronising. On the other hand, it is frustrating to know of a solution, of a good technical and theoretical foundation and see it ignored by the world at large. Hence probably the reminder phrasing used by the grandparent.